Denmark Study on Employment Status and Myocardial Infarction

A study entitled "Employment status at the time of acute myocardial infarction and risk of death and recurrent acute myocardial infarction" has concluded that working-age patients admitted due to heart attack and not being part of the workforce have a higher risk of mortality and new heart attacks following discharge when compared to patients who are a part of the workforce.

The study’s findings are published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Importance of Employment

Employment plays a crucial role in maintaining physical and mental health. Mental health status determines high and low self-esteem. Employment status provides financial independence. How much is the prognostic value of employment status before admission with acute MI? This has to be investigated more.

Research Methodology

A team of researchers investigated this background. They included those participants who had first-time Myocardial infarction and were alive at discharge. These patients were aged 18-60 years. They compared the rates of all-cause mortality and recurrent MI based on workforce attachment at the time of the event.

Study Findings

• Among 16,060 patients, 3,520, constituting 21.9%, were not part of the workforce.
• These were older (52 vs 51 years), less often men (63% vs 77%), and less likely to have higher education.
• These patients lived alone (47% vs 29%) and had heart failure, atrial fibrillation, high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and COPD as comorbidities.
• The absolute 5-year death risk was 3.3% and 12.8% in the workforce and non-workforce groups, respectively, with corresponding rates of recurrent MI at 7.5% and 10.9%, respectively.
• Those not part of the workforce had a higher rate of all-cause mortality and recurrent MI with HR 2.39 and 1.36, respectively.

Conclusion

To conclude, patients not part of the workforce have a high risk of a new heart attack following discharge.

Further Reading

Jeppe K Petersen, Abdulrahman N Shams-Eldin, Emil L Fosbøl, Rasmus Rørth, Rikke Sørensen, Reza Jabbari, Thomas Engstrøm, Lene Holmvang, Frants Pedersen, Amna Alhakak, Johanna Krøll, Christian Torp-Pedersen, Lars Køber, Jawad H Butt, Employment status at the time of acute myocardial infarction and risk of death and recurrent acute myocardial infarction, European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 2023; zwad013, https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjpc/zwad013